Here at Hunter Gatherer, we recognise that compliance is crucial to ensuring that every single patient receives an excellent standard of care. Not to mention it gives our clients absolute confidence that our staff are meeting the highest standards, allowing them to instead focus on the important stuff, like providing care to their patients.
So, naturally, this is one of our top priorities.
That’s why we adhere to the NHS Employment Check Standardand are regularly audited against the standards outlined in the National Agency Framework Agreements. On top of this, we perform a series of rigorous compliance checks on each and every candidate including DBS checks, clinical interviews, and giving candidates additional training to make them the best-equipped staff for any job you need.
And, aside from our internal compliance checks, every group of healthcare workers has an individual regulatory body with a group of professionals at the centre, setting a standard of excellence within each specific occupation.
We thought we’d outline just a few of the varied bodies that regulate the vast healthcare profession.
The NMC is the regulator of nurses, midwives, and nursing associates across the UK. Alongside their regulatory duties, they also support and influence change within the nursing community.
Their vision is to create a safe, effective and kind nursing and midwifery environment that improves everyone’s health and wellbeing.
The HCPC regulatory body covers over 280,000 professionals across 15 distinct health and care professions. They set the standards for professional education, training, and practices to safeguard patients.
Additionally, they approve programs that professionals must complete to register with the body. Following the completion, these professionals are known as ‘registrants’ and are recorded by the HCPC as staff that adhere to their standards.
If any professionals on the HCPC’s register don’t meet these standards, the body takes action to protect the public.
The GPhC work to improve standards of care within the pharmacy profession. Their role is to protect the public, assuring that they will receive safe and effective care when using pharmacy services.
Similarly to the HCPC, they hold a register with set standards. For any registrant to remain named on this record, they must continually meet high standards of care. This quality is expected from both the pharmacy professionals and the pharmacies, which is why pharmacies are required to undergo inspections.
The goal of this diligence is to uphold public confidence that any pharmacy or pharmacy professional on the register provides excellent care. It promotes continual improvement and the assurance of quality and safety in all GPhC registered pharmacies.
Social Work England is a specialist body that has been taking a new approach to regulating social workers in their essential roles.
They believe in the power of collaboration and share a common goal with those they regulate: to protect the public, create a positive change, and ultimately improve people’s lives.
Social Work England works alongside social workers to give them the best possible support whenever they might need it through their commitment to raising standards across all roles in social work.
Changes in Compliance
It’s necessary to hold staff in the healthcare sector to an incredibly high standard to ensure the public is receiving the best quality care possible, which means that compliance within the industry is constantly needing the evolve.
Some recent changes to be aware of are that as of the 6 April 2022, you can digitally check Right To Work and DBS documentation with the IDVT, making the recruitment process easier and quicker. On the same date, the physical biometric residence permits have ended to allow for online checks.
It is also worth noting that in Scotland mandatory online training has ended, instead they are shifting back to the pre-pandemic required practical training.
Compliance for You
But, why does this all matter to you? Well, taking the time to become fully compliant and a registrant of your professional regulatory body will help you to quickly start working in the role you want. A worker who has all their compliance requirements in check is very appealing to our clients as it shows you are a vetted, safe option for their placement.
Plus, compliance is a standardised process for all good quality healthcare agencies. If an agency isn’t asking you for compliance, it’s a big red flag. So, it’s good to get your compliance in order as soon as you’re looking for a new position.
At Hunter Gatherer, we have an experienced compliance team who are dedicated to making you compliant through a streamlined process. Our team has all the facilities in place to make your compliance process as quick and efficient as possible.
This includes providing nationwide training providers and venues as well as making any relevant online training modules accessible to our candidates. Plus, we work closely with a committed DBS checking service that provides expert assistance.
We even send out annual updates to remind all of our candidates to update their files with enough time to spare. This ensures that you avoid having any issues with your ongoing placements, making compliance with Hunter Gatherer a stress-free experience.
If you require guidance in your compliance journey, contact the Hunter Gatherer team to learn more about the services we offer. Call 0203 475 4858 or email enquiries@hg-ahp.com
